JouJou: Broken Ocean
by Face Of Mercy
Summary: The year is 2019, a series of gruesome murders marred the quiet peace of the sleepy town of Gensokyo. Three youths find themselves caught in the crossfire as various powers begin to mobilize beneath the notice of the public and a long forgotten tragedy begins to surface.
1. Humble Beginnings

When she woke up, she found an arrow embedded deep inside her chest. The thick rain fell on her face like a hail of liquid beads. They washed away the blood and left a world of melancholic, empty stillness. The rain pattered hard, but she was still able to see a little even through the thick, painful haze of the mind.

She was in an alleyway being dragged away by a mysterious figure. She couldn't get a good view of them, since she was being dragged by the back of her collar. "I have to say, for such lithe looking girl you're quite heavy…"

The voice was female or at least feminine. The injured girl kept that in mind.

A thought came to her, she has an arrow in her chest so she should be dead right? That should be how arrows worked right? Even through the rain and the haze in her mind she can clearly see that the arrow is embedded straight in the middle of her chest and yet the oddest thing was that she could feel her heartbeat. A soft, beating heart with an arrow jammed into it. She could even see the arrow wiggle a bit with every beat.

She thought about her situation a bit more. Why was she here anyway? Why did she get shot by an arrow of all things? What was she doing before all of this?

She dug back. Within the limits of her mind she dug back. As far back as she can remember…

* * *

It was the end of school and the girl was in the middle of getting her things packed. Various other students around her. Some in a hurry to meet up with friends. Some take their time. Some staying because it was their turn to clean up the school while others have clubs activities to attend to.

The girl was taking her time. In smooth, almost robotic movements she placed all her belongings into her messenger bag. A familiar routine that barely even registers in her mind.

She left the school, among the crowd she barely stuck out. Long brown hair that reaches to her waist, brown eyes and a plain high school uniform, a mere dot in a sea of people.

She took out a small note and gave it a quick read. Carton of eggs, green onions, milk, tomatoes, pepper shaker, the usual. Stuffing it back in her messenger bag, she made her way towards the commercial area.

Without thinking she hummed to herself a soft, simple melody from the past. The hot sun shone its rays on the town but she saw dark clouds in the distance. She frowned, remembering that she had forgotten to bring the umbrella with her. With a sigh, she made a detour from the usual road to the department store and into a small but popular convenience store.

Fuji Convenience, a nice, clean and well kept store run by Mokou Fujiwara the 4th. She was, as the girl heard, a descendant of a previous resident in Gensokyo who lived there over a hundred years ago but had left for parts unknown. A small fact that the girl thought was neat.

The store is most popular for its yakitori, grilled chicken on a skewer. They were always thoroughly well cooked while still remaining juicy. They were _also_ always sold out before the day has ended. The girl bought a skewer.

She very much liked the lone owner of the store. She doesn't talk much and only does so when needed. The girl didn't mind, in fact she quite enjoyed it. There was a lot of talk about her appearance, long white hair that reached all the way to her ankles and piercing red eyes. Her almost exotic appearance clashing with a mundane orange and black uniform.

She left the store, taking a small measured bite out of her yakitori. She made another detour, this time to the town's public board. She hoped there was a part time job opened. She wanted some extra money to buy the newest issue of Dark Pink Boy Part 4. Her mother suggested she should get a part time job if she wanted it so much.

There were missing persons posters, an advertisement for a new stand serving grilled lamprey, and a notice of a curfew coming into effect for public safety, but nothing about a part time job. A pity. She'll just have to buy that new issue at another time.

She went off to the department store. Humming the same tune as always. VMP UP was what the store was called, no one is sure why, maybe its creator wanted the name to be so unique as to catch the attention of potential customers.

There were less people than usual at the store. Not that she minded, at least it meant the lines weren't going to be long this time.

She went through the usual motions, starting with frozen goods, then fresh fruits and veggies, then canned food, etc. One time she made a motion to grab a large family size bag of chips, but pulled her hand away at the second with a frown. She did not want another lecture on needless spending, especially when it involves grocery money.

With all her goods in hand, she made her way to the cash registers. She found that some of the lanes were closed, not that she minded. She decided to wait at a line. It was the shortest one at the time and there were only two girls from her school who seem to be together and a foreigner in a cowboy getup.

"Yo, Alice. I feel like we're forgetting something." The blond girl in a well worn lab coat said.

The other girl was also blond, but kept her hair in a short, clean bob cut compared to her partner's messy long hair. "Oh? I was sure we had everything we needed for the school science fair next week."

"No, not that. I meant, something we had on ourselves. Wait! Do you remember that time we helped out that old lady with picking up the stuff she dropped? I had to place my umbrella on a shelf and well… Yeah It's not with me right now."

The other girl sighed. "This why you should get yourself a purse."

"Nah, I don't think a purse suits me." The other responded. "I mean, they're expensive right? I already have to do five part time jobs to fund my experiments."

"I'm pretty sure you're exaggerating the price part but I get your point." They both left the line, leaving just the cowboy and the girl with the former having already finished paying for his groceries.

"Man, I'm luckier than usual today." She thought to herself as she paid for her groceries.

She hoped this luck of hers would stick for a while longer. Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be. Just as she was exiting the building, she looked out and saw that the clouds were already blocking out the sun.

"Drats." She looked around, her mind filled with all sorts of different solutions to her problems.

She had groceries and she needed to get them home. But she was at the commercial area which was in the middle of town. Her house was on the edge of town in the east, just outside the Forest of Spirits. If she tried to walk all the way home, then it's almost assured that the rain would start before she makes it back home.

She looked at her groceries. They'll be fine, they're inside plastic bags so they wouldn't be too wet. No, she's more worried about her family. They'll fuss over her if she comes home soaked to the bones and she doesn't want that.

She spotted a bus shelter not too far off, just across the street. A plan formed in her head. She'll get to the bus stop, look up on the bus app to form a route back home and she should be able to get home without getting too wet.

She'll check her money later when she's in the bus shelter. Right now she needs to get in there before the rain starts. She looked to the left, then to the right, there were no people in sight, no cars except for the few ones in the parking lot.

She began making her way across the street, no problem. The clouds have begun to darken, she picked up her pace.

There was a glint in the alleyway next to the bus stop but she didn't notice it. She kept all her focus on figuring out a good apology for being so late. She then realized that she had a phone, she could just call them and-.

Faster than her eyes can register, an arrow sped towards her and pierced her chest. She stood still, like a statue. As if the clouds in the sky saw this as their cue, the rain began to fall. Slowly but surely, her body responded. Her grip weakened on her groceries, then her body collapsed under her own weight.

* * *

She remembered it, vaguely, but she remembered it.

She felt the grip lighten on her collar before she fell crashing into the hard concrete floor. "You're taking a while longer than the usual candidates. Are you sure you're not just another bogus? Man, that would just be a complete waste of time."

She gave the girl a quick kick to the head. She didn't put much strength behind it but it hurt all the same. "Come on girl I don't have all day. Sure this rain is nice and all but… Hey girl? Ever heard of Finagle's Law? I have no fucking clue who in the world is this Finagle guy or whoever are the fucks who named him Finagle. I mean seriously, Finagle? Really?

"Well, the law goes a little something like this: 'anything that can go to shit _will _go to shit.' Yeah yeah I took some creative liberties with it but the spirit of the law is intact, right?" She came into view of the girl. She had a hard time making out the finer features due to the dim lighting. From what she could possibly discern, she was most likely around her age, with short black hair and red eyes. That was all she could get.

"Well, I am an individual well acquainted with shit fucking up right in my face. Sure everything is going my way, barely anyone out and about, a strong rain to wash away the blood and drown out the noise… Still, you never know when life swings right back at your face, you know?"

The girl started to lose sensation, her version has gone dim, she began to realize that her life will soon be cut short. She tried to lift up her arms, attempted to rip the arrow out of her chest. They felt heavy, unresponsive, bones replaced with concrete, muscles with cheap rubber band.

"Oh? Are you dying? Dammit, just another dud then."

She felt scared. She was going to die she realized. Her life will end right there and then. No more second chances, no more dinners with her family, no more nothing.

She wondered, will there be a heaven on the other side? Will it be just a black void where you completely cease to think?

She felt cold and alone. She didn't want to end this way. She wanted to die beside someone close.

At the very least she wanted her mother to be with her, to hold her hand, to tell her that everything will be alright. Like the first time she cried since the crash. To gently hold her.

This was no way to die. Alone in an alleyway with someone so callous to life.

Her breathing had ceased, brain activity stopped. She was no more.

* * *

She woke up. She was laid flat on her back, in a space she had never been to before. Checkered walls, a floor as black as the void. She stood up, she didn't feel great but she didn't feel horrible either. Just normal she guessed.

She looked around. The room made her head swing about, strained her eyes, she wanted out of there. She began walking. Attempted walking, it was for naught. For one reason or another, despite her visibly seeing, physically feeling, her legs and feet moving one step at a time, her body simply refused to move.

She didn't understand.

She began running, fast as she could run. She ran so hard she thought her heart tried to escape its flesh bound prison. Her legs screeched to her mind, screwdrivers jammed into her thighs, to stop.

A figure forms in the distance.

She collapsed onto her knees. She breathes hard and fast, lungs desperate to reclaim lost air, legs rendered useless from pain and exhaustion, a mind bewildered beyond all belief. She just wanted to go home.

The figure began to take form. Variables established, boundaries formed, facts set in stone.

The girl sunk. Floor to liquid, solid to two hydrogens attached single oxygen. She had no more strength to swim.

Tired arms unable to lift, screams cut short by waves.

A tall figure who bared a large scythe, she propelled her boat towards the girl. When they were side by side, she reached out an arm and grabbed hold of the girl. "Hey girl, you feeling alright?"

The girl stared back in bewilderment and confusion. Before her stood a woman, pink hair tied in pigtails, dressed in blue and white with an easygoing on her face. "Hey, kid. Don't worry about death just yet."

* * *

"Yo Alice, who dropped all these groceries?" Two girls stood in front of an unfamiliar scene. A blistering rain and howling wind blew some of the scene away but they could still see that something had happened.

One bag of groceries was anchored down by the weight of its contents. The plastic shaking wildly as it's blown by the relentless wind. The other bag was gone, it's content spread across the floor, cans rolling away, boxes slid past, fruits and veggies at the mercy of nature.

"A bit careless don't you think? Maybe they got an urgent call and dropped everything?" The girl named Alice said. "What are your impressions Marisa?"

"Well it can't be the cowboy wannabe that's for sure, he didn't carry that much stuff. From what I can get the food here is enough for a family of four."

They began to look for any souls among them. "I don't see anyone? How 'bout you Alice?"

"Nothing, I don't see anyone around. Must be the curfew."

The girl in the lab coat motioned the other girl to come with her, they began to look around the scene. "Say, this is a lot of stuff. Do you think someone can hold a single bag in each hand and make a phone call before they can get to the bus shelter?"

"Well we can't tell for sure, looks likes a lot of stuff has been blown away so we could possibly be off the mark. Even your previous assertion of there being enough food for four could be erroneous."

Marisa went and looked inside the grocery bag that wasn't blown away by the wind yet. She saw that inside there were canned tuna, condensed milk, tomato sauce, some blood.

She blinked, rubbed her eyes and looked again. Shielded from the rain was a few specs of blood. Her mind started to race. "Shit, Alice I think I found some blood!"

"B-blood?" She retained a calm exterior, but the break in her voice said much about her true feelings. "Come on Marisa, don't play games with me."

"No I'm serious Alice! There's actual blood inside this bag. Shit, maybe whoever they were they got attacked by someone?"

Alice leaned in with the umbrella and looked inside the bag. "Well, it could be anything. I mean, there's a can of tomato sauce in there right? It could've broken and-."

Marisa grabbed the can of tomato sauce and showed it to Alice. It was almost unscathed save for a scratch or two.

"Okay, maybe it isn't tomato sauce, but we can't just jump to conclusions willy nilly like that. I mean, for starters, where's the body?"

"The body?!" She looked around frantically, her mind racing to all sorts of possibilities. Her lungs breathing fast and hard, mist erupting from her mouth and forming in the cold air.

"Hey! Marisa! I know that look! You're panicking, stop that. Just take some deep breaths and think this through." Alice said in a calm, measured tone. "Just slow down your breathing and look around methodically."

Doing as she said, she took a deep breath and looked around. She looked at the bus stop, nothing. The parking lot behind them, not much happening there. The street to the left? Nothing. The street to the right? Nothing.

Finally, the last thing she could see through the thick rain was the alleyway. She saw something at the entrance. A modest, brown leather messenger bag with its strap cut and a single sneaker.

"There." They both ran over to the bag. On closer examination, they found that the sneaker had its shoelace snagged on to the buckle of the bag. The strap, they found, was cut with something sharp as they found the damage to be very clean. "Hey, Alice. I want you to listen to what I think."

The girl was shaking slightly but she nodded. "Go ahead."

"You know how people wear purses right?"

"Over the shoulder?"

"Yeah, like that." Marisa said. "So, like, you know how the strap goes across the chest? Well, looking at where the cut is made, I guess that, maybe, something sharp stabbed the mystery victim in the chest?"

"That's a possibility."

"And the shoe, it's all tangled up. Do you think that maybe, like, the mystery victim was being dragged and the shoe got all tangled up with the bag?"

"Well if it did. It certainly didn't go far before it got all loosened."

They both looked at the alleyway. A thought was shared between them. "I'm going in."

"Wait! Marisa! Stop! We should call 119 or 110 and… And she's gone off. Dammit Marisa!" They both ran into the darkness.

It didn't take them long to find both the culprit and the victim. Laid flat on the ground was a young girl much like their age wearing the same school uniform. An arrow was embedded in her chest, blood stained her shirt and her eyes glossy and empty. "Ah shit. Looks like my luck for today has run out."

The assailant slowly rose up. The darkness of the alleyway hid her more finer features.

"Hey! Asshole! What the hell have you done to her?!" Marisa shouted.

"Well, what does it look like? There's an arrow in her chest, go ahead and put two and two together, or are you an idiot." She began to approach them.

"Oh yeah?! Well how about I give you a knuckle sandwich?!" Marisa shouted as she approached the assailant.

"Wait! Marisa! You're being too brash!"

A powerful aura began to surround the assailant. Two red arms appeared, swirling black and white arrows decorated it. It began to raise it hand towards Marisa but before it could do anything a powerful aura began to surround its target as well.

With blistering speed and strength a figure had appeared out of Marisa. Pale white skin inscribed with symbols of the periodic table, a stylized witch outfit adorned it body. Two canisters sat on its back, empty and on stand by.

"Wait, shit you got a stand?!" The assailant shouted as she brought her arms in to defend herself.

"Let's go! Dream On!" The stand let off a series of punches so fast, so ferocious, that the human eye could barely register its bloodthirsty rush.

"OH SHIT!" She defended herself from the vicious assault, barely. She could hardly maintain her footing until the last punch sent her flying through the air. She fell with a loud, vicious crash on the wet concrete ground. "Dammit… That stand… It must be a close range power type. Shit, I need to get out of here. In an enclosed space like an alleyway I'm fucked." She began to stand up before limping out of the scene.

"Hey! Wait! Come back here! I ain't done with you!" She motioned to chase her down but Alice called her attention.

"Wait! Marisa! Stop!"

"What?! Why? She's already getting away!"

"It's… It's the girl on the ground. She's moving."

"She's what?!"

At first it was subtle, a simple twitch of the finger. Slowly, but surely, life began to return. The body shook, eyes blinked, breathing resumed. Suddenly she vaulted forward, spewing out a torrent of blood from her mouth before she collapsed onto the ground. "I… I feel cold... Mom… Where are you mom?"

"Hey! Hold still and don't move! Everything will be fine." Alice attempted to soothe her. "Please! Don't push yourself!"

"I saw the other side… It was so weird…" She started. "They… She said not to worry but… I'm scared… I feel so cold…"

"Oi! Don't worry about anything!" Marisa said, kneeling down to her. "We're here now! You'll be all fine. There's… There's a hospital just down a few blocks away from here! We can get you there in a jiffy!"

"Wait! Marisa! What are you doing?! We should be calling the ambulance! She still has an arrow stuck in her chest!"

"Well we're keeping it in there! She'll bleed out faster if we remove it." She picked up the injured girl, using her stand to help support the weight, she began to speed down the alleyway.

"Dammit Marisa! Stop being so rash! What if the arrow jiggles around in her chest and slashes up her insides?!"

They both ran out of the alleyway, hearts beating as fast as a bullet train, full of worry and fear. Thus began a series of bizarre incidents in the small sleepy town of Gensokyo.

* * *

Stand Profile

**General**

Name: Dream On

User: Marisa Kirisame

Song: Dream On by Aerosmith

Type: Spirit (Close Range)

Statistics

Destructive Power: A

Speed: A

Durability: C

Precision: C

Learning: C

Range: C

Appearance: A tall black and white feminine figure with a stylized witch clothing. It has two large canisters on its back, their purpose remains unknown. It eyes are hidden by its long yellow hair, its skin is pale white and covered with symbols from the periodic table.

**Abilities**

N/A


	2. Brewing Storm

Have you ever woken up in the middle of the morning? That time when the sun is still down and the day has not yet started? That feeling where after you take a look at the clock and find that it says 3:30 you just can't help but take a long, deep sigh?

A young girl knows. She knows it very well, so well you might have called it her closest friend. Though on most occasions you'd expect that kind of situation to occur in the safety of your own home.

It was dark and there were few lights. Naturally, her eyes were drawn to the first thing she can see in the darkness. A digital clock which hung on the wall in front of her. Blinking through her sleepiness she saw that the time was 2:42.

"_Dammit… I must've forgot to drink orange juice again…"_ She thought to herself. She didn't know why but she always found that her sleep went a lot smoother when she drinks orange juice before going to bed. She once tried drinking a warm glass of milk but that ended in a disastrous trip to the toilet.

She gave a deep sigh and endeavored to return to her sleep when something clicked in her mind. An important detail, a small one but important nonetheless. She owned a digital clock, yes, but if her memory served right it would've been placed beside her on the bedside table, not hanging up on the wall in front of her.

Her bed felt a bit off to her. It was nice and comfy and all but it felt just a bit off to her. For starters, since when did her bed have plastic bars on both sides? Since when was her blanket a bland, white sheet? Since when did she have a bed that can bend?

Slowly her mind woke up, slowly bits and pieces of information began to make themselves present.

This was not her home, that much she knew. She lived in a japanese style mansion, the kind with paper walls and wooden verandas. While something that was a bit more fancy than the average home, it still felt cozy, warm, like resting next to a fireplace.

This room felt cold and sterile.

There was another source of light. Beside her was a machine that beeped. A green zig zag line was being drawn on it. She realized that the machine was a heart monitor and that it was it connected to her chest.

The clothes she was wearing were not hers. It was a hospital gown, a shade of cyan blue that hid the bandages that encapsulated her chest. A dull ache seemed to reverberate through her chest.

She realized then that she was in the hospital and she was a patient.

But why was she here? How did she get here?

She remembered nothing. That there was a sudden cut off in her memories. The most recent memory she can procure in her mind was an image of a department store and then nothing.

Just like that. As if someone took a pair of scissors and snipped out the most important part of the film.

It scared her.

She noticed a few more things about her situation that she didn't see at first. There was a tube that went down her throat, an IV bag that was hooked to her left arm and how a feeling of heaviness pervaded across her entire body.

She realized that she must've gotten into a horrible accident. Her mind began to explore hundreds of possibilities: traffic incidents, assault, seizure, heart attack, etc.

She couldn't move her body. Frustration swelled inside her as she cursed her prison of flesh and bones.

Frustration, confusion, and fear all swirled into a cacophony of emotion. A discordant symphony that seemed to feed into itself as her mind trashed around.

Slowly but surely however, that grand chaotic symphony turned into a soft, peaceful whistle as her eyes began to grow heavy. Lucid thoughts turned into a haze as she slowly slipped into that bewildering realm of dreams.

* * *

The next time she woke up, a doctor was in front of her. Long purple hair and red eyes, she reminded her a lot about the store owner from Fuji Convenience. She briefly wondered about the abnormally high number of people in town who have irregular pigments in her appearance when she noticed who the doctor was talking to.

It was her adoptive mother and she was a wreck. Her normally straight, long blonde hair was a frazzled mess. Her crisped, clean business suit was rumpled, and she was pretty sure that her suit jacket was being worn inside out. Bags had formed under bloodshot eyes as her whole body was slouched over.

"-miracle that her heart even functions." The doctor said. "I mean, your daughter's entire survival is a miracle in and of itself. How she managed to cling to what few scraps of life she had left is beyond me."

"Just get to the point Doctor Inaba." She gruffed out in annoyance. "You told me that there was a problem that you needed to tell me."

"Well… Despite the remarkable condition the heart is in. What we did was only a stop-gap solution. I only patched up the heart but that arrow… I read that report the Speedwagon Foundation gave me… She's a rarity among rarities. Someone who wasn't accepted by the arrow but still survived it."

"The point Doctor Inaba."

"The point is, we don't think her heart is going to last very long. She's going to need a replacement."

"A heart transplant." Worry crept into her voice. "Are there any donors?"

"What very little donors we could find have little to no compatibility with her." She gave a frustrated sigh. "One of the best medical facilities in the world and this all that we're able to do…"

"What about an artificial heart?"

"That's our go-to solution for the moment, our only solution in fact and… We're fairly certain she might have to live with one for the rest of her life."

She gave a resigned sigh. "Anything else I should know?"

They continued on with their conversation. She wasn't sure about the things they were talking about. Must've been because she just woke up.

She really wanted their attention though, so she checked if her body was working this time. She found that she can manage a small twitch with her right hand, she supposed that was good enough and checked if she can work towards using the entire thing.

It was hard but bit by bit she can control more and more of her arm. It wasn't much, she wondered if this is what being drunk was like.

If she had to compare it something, it was less like using your arm and more like you're trying to operate a crane. Except that crane was an old, rusted piece of equipment being operated by a drunk, senile monkey.

Her armed barely raised above her head but it was enough. She gave a slow, drunken wave to the two people in front of her.

They both noticed something moving in the corner of their eyes and as they slowly turned around they saw a young girl, bedridden and hooked up to god knows how many machines, waving at them. "Oh! She woke up!"

"Reimu!" The mother rushed forward to grasp her hand. "You're… You're awake!"

The young girl clenched her hand in response.

"Your hand… It's so weak…"

"Hello? Reimu? Can you hear me?" The doctor said. "Can you give me a thumbs up?"

Reimu lifted up her other hand and shook it around in the air.

"You at least have some motor control and you're demonstrating the ability to comprehend my words." She said to herself. "I'm gonna go and call up a few nurses."

The thirty minutes was abuzz with activity. The nurses checked the equipment as the doctor ran several tests with her. They waited about two hours before they decided that Reimu was ready to have her endotracheal tube removed.

Reimu could speak, but her voice was hoarse and weak. They gave her piece of paper to see if she could write and the result was a page full of messy scribbles which only held the vague resemblance to words.

Reimu noticed a few things about the doctor she hadn't noticed at first. Along with a clip on tag on her coat, there was a dog tag hanging from her neck. Inscribed on it was "Inaba, Reisen U." Followed by a bunch of numbers, her blood type (which was AB Positive), and the last seemed to be scratched out with a knife (which vaguely looked like 'none') and replaced with 'Buddhist'.

Her mother was talking on the phone, excited bursts of joy and quiet, low whispers punctuated the conversation. The doctor meanwhile was intensely focused on writing a series of papers before nodding to herself and storing it on her person.

She turned towards Reimu and gave a quick cough to catch her attention.

"Okay Reimu… I'm going to explain your… Unique circumstances." The doctor took a deep breath. Faint yellow sparks flowed between her fingers. "You've been admitted to Rabbit of the Moon Hospital for about four days now. Two young teenage girls from your highschool brought you in and we had to admit you to the emergency room.

"From what we can gather, you were assaulted on your way back home and the extent of the damage was so great we had to perform open heart surgery on you." She paused for a moment. "Do you… Recall anything of the incident?"

"...No…" Reimu whispered.

"I see. I assure you that it's a normal response to trauma. There are a lot of cases of people who suffered incidents who recall little to nothing about the events that transpired.

"We're going to keep you here in the hospital for a few more days, though we'll move you out of the ICU by tomorrow. We just need to monitor your health is all. There might be the possibility of future health complications but you shouldn't worry about them now, just take it easy okay?"

"...Artificial heart…"

"I'm sorry? What was that?"

"...You said something about an artificial heart…"

"Oh that… You must've heard about that upon you awakening… You see, we only did a stop gap solution to your problems so we might have to perform another open heart surgery and perhaps even a transplant."

"...I see…"

"Well… That's as much as I can explain… Do you two want to have some alone time?"

"If it's appropriate." The mother said.

"It's no problem. Pull the call bell if you need help." The faint sound of distant shouting seemed to fill the air. The doctor simply sighed. "I'm just gonna go and help out my cousin."

The doctor left the room, slouching all the way. The nurses followed suit.

The two remaining occupants stared at each other for a while. "...Sorry about worrying you mom…"

"It's fine Reimu." She forced a smile. "It's a mother's job to worry about their children's wellbeing you know."

"...Did I miss anything while I was out?"

"Chen was worried about you." She said. "She was huddled up with her five kittens, crying about where big sis was."

"...Oh… I should apologize to her…"

"There's nothing to apologize for." She leaned in for a soft kiss on the cheek. "None of it was your fault. You were just in the wrong place at the wrong time is all. Why don't you go back to sleep? Don't worry, I'll still be here…"

"...But I just woke up… I don't want to go back to sleep…"

"Shh… It's all right. You're still a bit tired, you need it. We'll all still be here when you wake up again."

"...Okay…" She drifted back into sleep.

"It's okay Reimu…" She said as she comforted her. "I'll find whoever did this… And when I do… They'll know true hell."

* * *

"I hate this. I hate everything about this." A janitor said to herself. "Every single thing about this sucks ass."

She swept away broken glass, pieces of crumbled concrete and scraps of metal. "Well, I'll admit I don't mind cleaning up messes. I mean, it's my job right? I'm a janitor. I have to clean up stuff, but I got limits you know?"

She was relatively short, with short scruffy black hair and red eyes. "I can understand people accidentally spilling jars full of expensive chemicals, I mean we're human after all right? I can understand if someone pukes out their entire breakfast, lunch and dinner because of one bad burrito."

She gave an impulsive kick to a broken piece of cinderblock. "And I can tolerate a prank. Hell I love pranks! I prank people all the time but pranks gotta have limits you know? Bucket of water on the door? Classic. Fake puke? A little cliche but okay. False Fire alarm? Only on Christmas."

Veins started protruding on her forehead. "But when you cross the line? Then you fucking crossed the line! Broken beer bottles? Fuck you. Shoving entire rolls of toilet paper down the toilet? Who does that? That one time someone started a brawl in the lobby? Blood stains moron.

"But do you know you truly, honestly and completely crossed the fucking line when you blow a fucking hole in a wall!" She stood outside a large building with a scorched, jagged hole in the side of it.

"The police had already searched every nook and cranny of this mess and they can't find a single clue so they all packed up and now I gotta clean up this mess while the construction crew are late." She huffed to herself.

"Hey Tewi. You okay?"

She looked behind her and saw a doctor walking through the hole in the wall, cups of steaming hot coffee in both hands. "You probably shouldn't do that Reisen. It'd be bad if a part of the wall falls on your head."

"I'm not too worried." She said, handing over one of the cups. "They still haven't come?"

"They got stuck in traffic." She said before taking a huge swig of coffee. "Apparently some sort of accident happened and they had to close up one of the streets, so they're taking a bit of a detour. Thanks for the coffee by the way, I needed it."

"You're welcome… Say is your back okay?"

"Not at all." She responded. "I think I slept in a bad position last night."

"I see… Hold still." She gently pressed her free hand onto Tewi's back and took a long, deep breath. Yellow, arcing light pulsed from her hand as Tewi's face visibly softens.

"Ah… Feels as if you took the pain and threw it somewhere else." Tewi said as she stretched out. "You know, if you were able to explain it to the committee you might be able to use that on your patients."

"You know how they'll react Tewi. An ancient Tibetan martial art that harnesses the power of the sun? Preposterous. Doesn't help that there's a group of scientists, biologists and medical professionals going around trying to debunk Hamon entirely."

"Well that is annoying." She said. "Though I suspect they won't get too far."

"I hope you're right." The doctor said worriedly. "So… How many people you think broke in?"

"Only one came in." She said. "Though I suspect there might've been a second person who made that explosion."

"Your reasoning?"

"Well, whoever is the person who broke in, they just came and… Well they haven't left…"

"Haven't left?"

"You weren't here and you don't have a stand so even if you were here you wouldn't have seen it." She explained. "The breach happened while I was in the lobby. I only had the general direction of the explosion and not its exact location so I sent Prince with a Thousand Enemies ahead to check it out.

"By the time my stand got there, there was a cloud of dust and debris which obscured my sight. I was initially going to see if there was anyone injured by the explosion when I saw something move in the cloud and… Well it just disappeared."

"Was it something you saw or something you _think_ you saw?"

"I can't be too sure. There are too many unknowns in this situation. Nothing was stolen since the incident and no one was injured by any suspicious phenomenon… I think what we are dealing with is someone who specializes in stealth, I don't know if it's a short range stand, a long range controllable stand or even those annoying remote stands but as of this moment, it could be spying on us right now…"

Reisen looked around, a neutral stoic look on her face. "Then let us end our conversation here…"

"Yeah… Let's do that…"

They went back to work.

* * *

"Ah… Ah… Yeah that's better…" She said as she applied the ice bag to her face.

"Marisa… Do you mind if you remove it for a bit, I need to ascertain the damage."

"Just… Wait a bit longer Alice… I need this, I really, really need this." She grunted. "If you haven't been there I would have ended up much worse."

"Just relax Marisa… We're in Rinnosuke's pawn shop right now and Mima's coming to pick us up now. Now… Can you move your hand for a bit?"

She stared at her for a while before she gave a silent nod. She moved the ice pack away, revealing a bloody eye, still bleeding and pulsating.

The blood spread everywhere. Her face, her clothes, the floor beneath her. There were other injuries, scraped knees, two broken fingers. It was a mess.

A tall man with white hair, a pair of glasses and wearing a freshly pressed suit came in, holding a mug of hot chocolate in one hand and a first aid kit in the other. "Are you feeling better?"

"Tolerable." She said. "Hey… Uh… I read a story about a guy getting punched in the face and how his left eye was squashed. Do you think-."

"Please… Don't entertain such thoughts just relax… " Alice said as she opened the first aid kit. "I'm going to clean up the wound a bit. The alcohol is going to sting a lot so bear it with me please."

"I know, I know… This is going to suck…" While one child mended another, the older man looked outside and through the caged windows of his shop he saw a woman waiting outside, scowling.

He gave a sigh and walked out of his shop to meet face to face with her. Messy green hair, and a lab coat that labcoat that looked as if it went through hell and back. "Afternoon Mima, you still smell like chemicals."

"Who did it?" She demanded.

"I don't know." He shrugged. "It's better if you ask the two of them but… We need to give them time… They've been through a lot."

She trembled, eyes full of fury and rage. Teeth grinding so hard he almost thought they'd break into pieces. "Marisa… She's the only one I've got and Alice… A friend of mine asked me to take her in, I can't fail her…"

"Please… Just hold it in for a while… Not in front of them…" He quietly begged. "Please… It's still too soon. They just came back."

"I… I... " She bit her lips. "Fine, I'll hold it off. For now… It's just…"

"I know… It's frustrating." He opened the door and flipped over the sign. "I'm closing shop for today. You can come if you want… No, you need to come in, they need someone who can comfort them better than I ever could…"

She gave a sad smile. "I suppose they need a mother more than they need a killer."

"You're not a killer. At least, you aren't that person anymore." He said. "Come on, I'll make some hot chocolate for you too."

* * *

There is a town. A small, quiet town called Gensokyo.

To the north sat a mountain, large, imperial and home to the rich and noble. Houses and districts sprawled across and around its frame. At the bottom of the mountain laid a shrine.

To the east, a thick forest thought to be the home of spirits. In the middle sat another shrine, this one abandoned. South of that forest laid a thick patch of bamboo.

In the west, a field of sunflowers and north of that a lake covered in fog.

To the south laid the open sea.

In the middle sat the town proper. A field of tightly packed buildings and narrow streets.

Within that town was a small store called Fuji Convenience. Inside, Mokou Fujiwara was cleaning her front counter. She spared a glance towards the food warmer beside her, full of freshly made yakitori and sighed.

She had not seen the girl a while after her last visit and when she saw the news she finally knew why. Mokou tried her best not to grow attached to people, but she couldn't help but grow fond of her.

That girl started visiting her store three years ago and since then had almost passed by everyday. Little by little she started to notice small details, quirks about her most frequent customer. The way she sometimes stares out into nothing before resuming whatever it was she doing, the oddly fast growth of her nails and the way she just seems lost most of the time.

She had lived for a _long _time and during her life, she began to learn how to notice those small little details of other people. A while ago, a young girl from the Tengu district came by, an amateur reporter who ran the Bunbunmaru Newspaper.

She acted in a calm, professional manner but she could see past her mask. The small, excited twitch of her body, the minor eager curl of the lips and the multitude of questions she was asking. She could tell that this girl lived for the scoop.

She just kept answering her questions in that same curt, disinterested tone she always used until the girl finally left her alone.

She did leave one thing for her. A free copy of the girl's newspaper. She supposed she could give it a quick read.

It was as she expected, the usual daily grind, the petty gossip and the such. At the end however something caught her eye. It was a small column surrounding the demolition of the old Eientei Hospital which was replaced by the new Rabbit of the Moon Hospital.

The land had been bought and the old building was torn down. It wasn't that surprising to her, she knew that building was going to be torn down anytime soon.

It was the people who were doing the demolition that interested her. Houraisan Corp, a multi billion dollar private corporation which was run and passed down through a line of former nobles.

Her hands flashed for a moment before the newspaper was burnt to a crisp. She brushed the ashes into a small trash can before resuming her previous task.

She was coming and soon, everything will be all over.

* * *

_Author's notes: Sorry about the long wait. When it comes to writing stuff like this I tend to go through several drafts before I find the one I'm most comfortable with and refine as best as I can. I also don't have a dedicated proofreader and in fact most of the time I just ask people on discord if they can spare the time to look through my work._

_This chapter in particular was very hard for me to write. The first chapter took 3 drafts to make. This one took 7 drafts and even then the final draft would have gone through several revisions by the time I'm done with it. _

_I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. I just wanted to slow down the story a bit after that more hectic beginning. The next chapter will probably take a long time to make. In fact, please expect this fanfic to have a very slow update schedule._

_Thank you for your understanding._


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